Wrench



(No Model.)

I. A. CUNNINGHAM.

v WRENCH.

Patented Feb. 1

PETERS co. Move-Lama. wAsHmoTou, D. 1;

I proper relation.

PATENT FFICEQ ISAAC A. CUNNINGHAM, OF ANTRIM, OHIO.

WRENCH.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 598,304, dated February 1, 1898.

Application filed February 25, 1897. Serial No. 624,925. :(No model.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, ISAAC A. CUNNINGHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Antrim,in the county of Guernsey and State of Ohio, have, invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wrenches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in wrenches, the object being to provide a simple and cheap construction of wrench combining certain improvements, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a wrench constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2, a plan view of the same, showing the jaws and guiding-plates shifted. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the wrenclnthe jaws being arranged as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the wrenchjaws.

Like numerals designate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the handle of the wrench, which terminates in a nearly circular enlarged head 2, provided with a circular opening 3 therethrough and formed with a central flange 4., extending entirely around the said opening. Two plates 5 6 fit in the said circular opening and abut against opposite sides of the said flange, and these plates are secured together by screws 6 or any other suitable fastening device to maintain the same in their These two plates are provided at the center thereof with a guidingopening 7, the said two openings being in alinement. This construction and arrangement of the plates relative to the said circular head of the wrench enables the plates to said side pieces being secured to the jaw block by screws 13.

The jaw 8 is fixed or rigidly secured to the two shifting plates at one side of the guidingslot 7 by any suitable fastening means, while the other jaw is arranged to slide in the said slot to and from the fixed jaw. A screwshaft 14 passes through the two jaws, adja cent one end thereof, and is provided with a handle 15, whereby it maybe turned. The,

threaded portion of this screw-shaft passes through a threaded opening in the sliding jaw 9 and is adapted to move the said jaw to and from the fixed jaw. The shaft is provided at the extremity of its screw-threads with a stop-collar 16, which abuts against the jaw 8 and prevents the shaft from being pulled through the opening therein and insures that the shaft must be revolved to adjust the sliding jaw. v

The two shifting plates 5 6 are provided around their rims with a series of notches 17, with which pivoted catches 18 on opposite sides of the head 2 of the wrench are adapted to engage. Each catch 18 is pivoted in a slot 19 and provided with a locking projection 20 to fit in said notches. A spring 21 bears against the near end of the pivoted catch and tends to hold the same in locked position. By this construction these two shifting plates 5 6 and the jaws 8 9 of the wrench maybe turned or shifted so as to bring the jaws to an angular position with reference to the handle portion 1 of the wrench, and this is greatly advantageous in cases where the jaws are to be engaged with a nut or other device in almost inaccessible places where the handle would be in the way and interfere with the.

operation of the device. By this construction the handle may be set at an angle to the,

jaws and thus be out of the way of any obstructions which would prevent the turning of the wrench. The pivoted catches 18 hold the two shifting plates and the jaws in any position to which they have been set.

My invention provides a simple and cheap construction of jaw which combines certain advantages not found in wrenches of ordinary construction, as has been hereinbefore pointed out.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a wrench, the combination of a handle having an enlarged head formed with a circular opening and a guide-flange extending around said opening, two shifting plates disposed on opposite sides of said flange and provided witha guiding-slot and with notches around the rim thereof, two clamping-jaws in said slot each formed at one end with a wed geshaped clamping face or head and a reduced connecting portion extending through said circular opening, removable side blocks secured to the opposite ends of the jaws, the removal of which will enable said jaws to be inserted into and removed from the slot, a screw shaft projecting through a smooth opening in one jaw and operating in a threaded opening in the other jaw to adjust the lat ter, and spring-actuated catches pivoted on the handle and adapted to engage the said notches on the plate-rims and hold said plates immovable, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ISAAC A. CUNNINGHAM.

Witnesses:

G. A. ALBAUGH, G. W. MoRRIsoN. 

